Hi, I'm going to try and answer some of the sticky questions before you guys recommend a racket. Currently I play badminton once-a-week but am looking to extend it to twice-a-week. I play recreationally with a bunch of friends who are regulars and we're looking to get into this a bit more seriously, i.e. actually trying to burn a few calories and break a sweat! We're actually going to move to feathers from plastic. I'm currently using a Yonex Nanospeed 850. It's a nice racket, very light and hits ok, but there's absolutely no power in the hits - probably because it's head-light. I've smashed better with cheaper head-heavy rackets. I prefer to play baseline or a smashing game, so am actually looking for a different racket altogether. Obviously I'd like a durable racket, but at the level being played - I'm sure most of the rackets recommended can take-a-hit. Ideally something £100 or less would be a plus, I've always preferred the Yonex brand. Any recommendations?
Try looking at apacs tantrum 200 reviews. not sure if u can get it in london. I believe it should be very cheap. probably slightly more expensive than nanospeed 850 by usd $10-20 i am from malaysia and the price is around rm250 here. not sure wat is the conversion rate for the currency now. but its roughly rm250. it is solid and is very good in most aspects. u can look at dinkalot's review on it. or google up. here is an easy click for u. http://badmintan.blogspot.com/2010/05/apacs-tantrum-200.html good luck! hehe... i am loving my tantrum 200 now.
I played for a while with the Armortec 50. It's headheavy and stiff. It would fit your budget and is available at centralsports for 65.50. My experience with this racket is: I could smash pretty hard with this racket, but at defence it felt a bit sluggish. Clears, smashs, dropshots are easy, but it lacked at the net. Crosscourt net shot weren't easy a needed much efforts. Overall it felt a bit too heavy. Not the racket is only the key for a hard smash, the string tension and a bigger grip can effect more power. You can read Paul's detailed review here: http://badminton-coach.co.uk/248/yonex-armortec-50-badminton-racquet-review/
Thanks for the advice, I think I'm going to go check out the Armortec series by Yonex. After having a Nanospeed 850, might be worth checking out the head-heavy rackets for comparison play!
the shaft stiffness is probably a significant factor in why you cant get much power from it. I suggest looking for racquets with medium flex shafts. I therefore would NOT recommend the tantrum 200
Kayb33, Judging from your preference for a head-heavy, user friendly racket and preferably a ‘Yonex’, I think you should take a serious look at the Armortec 600. Although I’ve never actually owned one, I was very impressed with its performance when play-testing it. It’s head-heavy, but not cumbersome when it comes to defending, whilst at the same time remaining very light in the hand (I had two AT-700 and at times it felt like swinging a golf club). Paul, who runs the ‘Badminton Coach’ website rates it very highly also, scoring it 5 out of 5 stars. It’s not thee top of the range Armortec but I know Nadieżda Kostiuczyk, Polish mixed doubles champion uses it, or at least used to. It also has a flexible shaft which might help you generate that extra bit of power when clearing from baseline to baseline. It retails for around £110, but I have found a few online retailers who are selling it for less than £80. www.directsporteshop.com might be worth a look. I’ve bought a few items from them in the past. However, whatever you do, please do not be tempted to buy one off of ebay. Aesthetically too, it’s very nice with blue, white and silver decals. Hope that helps.
